Federal Minister Dobrindt: 5G is a key-technology for automated and connected driving

Dedicated 5G test network in the 700-MHz band along the A9 motorway and the high speed rail track between Nuremberg and Greding

Ericsson has today announced the formation of a cross-industry consortium to strengthen 5G research and development in Germany. Members of the “5G-ConnectedMobility” consortium are Ericsson, BMW Group, Deutsche Bahn, all three German mobile network operators -Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica Deutschland and Vodafone, the TU Dresden 5G Lab Germany, the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) and the Federal Regulatory Agency (BNetzA). The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure and the Bavarian Road Construction Administration support the project.

“5G-ConnectedMobility” creates an infrastructure and a real application environment on a “Digital Test Field Motorway”, above all to carry out tests in the area of vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure, digitalization of the railway infrastructure and other applications using 5G technology.

For this purpose, “5G-ConnectedMobility” operates within an independent infrastructure, and is not dependent on any commercial network. This means that 5G prototype applications can be installed and tested regularly, in various network configurations, at any time, without restrictions. The dedicated Ericsson 5G mobile network allows live tests of real time applications, even under extreme network loads, and with very high travel speeds at the same time. Test conditions, which are hardly ever found in commercially operated live networks, can be created. In this context, Ericsson has received permission from the the Federal Regulatory Agency to use frequencies from the 700-MHz band, for the area of Nuremberg-Feucht to Greding, and will act as a network operator.

Foto: mc-quadrat OHG Berlin | Paula G. Vidal

Stefan Koetz, Chairman of the management board of Ericsson GmbH: “I am pleased that it has been possible to form such a wide cross industry consortium with “5G-ConnectedMobility”. With the members of the telecommunications industry, and the application industry, it will be possible to accelerate 5G research and development beyond Germany, and bring the specific requirements of the various industries in Germany into international 5G standardization activities. This will make Germany stronger in this area.”

Alexander Dobrindt, Federal Minister of Transport: “With the next mobile network standard 5G, we are firing the starting shot for the digital real time era. 5G is a key technology for automated and connected driving, enabling direct data communication between vehicles and infrastructure. “5G-ConnectedMobility” will drive forward technology on the digital test field of motorway. Alongside the high precision radar sensors, which we have installed on the test field, the 5G project is a further milestone on the way to the first fully digitalized and fully networked road.”

Bruno Jacobfeuerborn, CTO of Deutsche Telekom AG: “More than with any other previous technology, with 5G, the requirements and concrete use cases of the industry influence the development. The cross-sector collaboration within “5G-ConnectedMobility” will help us to translate the potential regarding extremely short latencies of under a millisecond, high data throughput of more than a Gigabit per second, or the network availability for billions of devices into tailor made offers for our customers.”

Cayetano Carbajo, CTO of Telefónica Deutschland: “This project represents a common effort of distinguished members of the industry to harmonize the requirements of future communications networks with the needs of the automotive industry. Telefónica is supporting this effort, which represents a remarkable opportunity for identifying and developing future applications of both technologies.”

Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO of Vodafone Deutschland: “With our high performance networks, we are the leading force for the Internet of Things. Together with the experts from Ericsson and the partners involved, we drive forward the development of new 5G technologies in the newly founded consortium, and bring networked and fully automated cars from the laboratory onto the road.”

Professor Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Frank H. P. Fitzek, Deutsche Telekom Chair of Communication Networks, 5G Lab Germany, TU Dresden: “The TU Dresden sees a great opportunity in this project, to test the previously developed technologies of the 5G Lab Germany, with important partners in the field. Connected cars will significantly increase safety in traffic but also require new technologies for the dynamic networks of the future. Due to the existing excellent cooperation with Ericsson, Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone, we are confident of being able to provide the first practical results soon.”

The test track consists of several construction sections on the “Digital Test Field Motorway” in an area of around 30 km between the junctions of Nuremberg-Feucht and Greding, in which the A9 federal motorway and the high speed train route Nuremberg-Ingolstadt-Munich run in parallel, and are covered by the built up test network at the same time. The infrastructure is already completed in the first partial sections, meaning that live tests can begin immediately.

For the mobile network infrastructure, sites of the Motorway Directorate North Bavaria (ABDN) being the local roads authority, Deutsche Bahn and the mobile network operators – Telefónica Deutschland and Deutsche Telekom are being used. The connection occurs via a glass fibre infrastructure of the local roads authority and Deutsche Bahn. The concentration point of the network is located in an equipment container equipped by Ericsson, which has been installed on the premises of the motorway maintenance agency in Greding. The core network will be operated from Ericsson’s ICT Development Center Eurolab near Aachen, which supervises Ericsson’s “5G for Germany” program amongst other things. The connection to this core network will be carried out via Vodafone’s “Interconnect Access” of the ABDN.

The intention is to discuss the knowledge, perspectives and recommendations gained from this partnership and the technology, services and operating suggestions from the technical work packages of the project in an “Alignment Forum” of the members involved, and further develop them with the focus being on integration into international 5G standardization activities. In this context, the various project participants will draw on their membership in international bodies.

Within the scope of “5G-ConnectedMobility” in particular, use cases of associated vehicle applications, for vehicle-to-vehicle, and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, for new methods of traffic information provision in real time and cross manufacturer traffic control for automated vehicles, are currently planned.

The “Digital Test Field Motorway” was set up by the The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, together with the Free State of Bavaria, the German Association of the Automotive Industry and the Federal Association of Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (Bitkom) on the A9 motorway in Bavaria where the automotive sector, digital economy and research institutions can test out pioneering systems and technologies under real conditions.

Fleets of fully autonomous cars as basis for new mobility services in urban environments +++ BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye are creating an open platform for the next generation of cars to create the safest autonomous platform, from door locks to the datacenter +++ The three companies share a common vision and goal, to align the industry on a standards-based platform to quickly bring autonomous vehicles to market

BMW Group, Intel, and Mobileye are joining forces to make self-driving vehicles and future mobility concepts become a reality. The three leaders from the automotive, technology and computer vision and machine learning industries are collaborating to bring solutions for highly and fully automated driving into series production by 2021.

The future of automated driving promises to change lives and societies for the better. But the path to get to a fully autonomous world is complex and will require end-to-end solutions that integrate intelligence across the network, from door locks to the data center. Transportation providers of the future must harness rapidly evolving technologies, collaborate with totally new partners, and prepare for disruptive opportunities.

Together with Intel and Mobileye, the BMW Group will develop the necessary solutions and innovative systems for highly and fully automated driving to bring these technologies into series production by 2021. The BMW iNEXT model will be the foundation for BMW Group’s autonomous driving strategy and set the basis for fleets of fully autonomous vehicles, not only on highways but also in urban environments for the purpose of automated ridesharing solutions.

BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye are convinced that automated driving technologies will make travel safer and easier. The goal of the collaboration is to develop future-proofed solutions that enable the drivers to not only take their hands off the steering wheel, but reach the so called “eyes off” (level 3) and ultimately the “mind off” (level 4) level transforming the driver’s in-car time into leisure or work time. This level of autonomy would enable the vehicle, on a technical level, to achieve the final stage of traveling “driver off” (level 5) without a human driver inside. This establishes the opportunity for self-driving fleets by 2021 and lays the foundation for entirely new business models in a connected, mobile world.

On July 1, 2016, the three partners were present at the BMW Group Headquarters in Munich to express their commitment to strive for an industry standard and define an open platform for autonomous driving. The common platform will address level 3 to level 5 automated driving and will be made available to multiple car vendors and other industries who could benefit from autonomous machines and deep machine learning.

The companies have agreed to a set of deliverables and milestones to deliver fully autonomous cars based on a common reference architecture. Near term, the companies will demonstrate an autonomous test drive with a highly automated driving (HAD) prototype. In 2017 the platform will extend to fleets with extended autonomous test drives.

“Today marks an important milestone for the automotive industry as we enter a world of new mobility. Together with BMW Group and Intel, Mobileye is laying the groundwork for the technology of future mobility that enables fully autonomous driving to become a reality within the next few years,” saidMobileye Co-Founder, Chairman and CTO Professor Amnon Shashua.

“Mobileye is proud to contribute our expertise in sensing, localization, and driver policy to enable fully autonomous driving in this cooperation. The processing of sensing, like our capabilities to understand the driving scene through a single camera already, will be deployed on Mobileye’s latest system-on-chip, the EyeQ®5, and the collaborative development of fusion algorithms will be deployed on Intel computing platforms. In addition, Mobileye Road Experience Management (REM) technology will provide real-time precise localization and model the driving scene to essentially support fully autonomous driving.”

Intel brings a comprehensive portfolio of technology to power and connect billions of smart and connected devices, including cars. To handle the complex workloads required for autonomous cars in urban environments Intel provides the compute power that scales from Intel® Atom™ to Intel® Xeon™ processors delivering up to a total of 100 teraflops of power efficient performance without having to rewrite code.

“Highly autonomous cars and everything they connect to will require powerful and reliable electronic brains to make them smart enough to navigate traffic and avoid accidents,” saidIntel CEO Brian Krzanich. “This partnership between BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye will help us to quickly deliver on our vision to reinvent the driving experience. We bring a broad set of in-vehicle and cloud computing, connectivity, safety and security, and machine-learning assets to this collaboration enabling a truly end to end solution.”

With its Strategy Number ONE > NEXT, the BMW Group has developed its framework to remain the driving force behind premium individual mobility. This approach will become driving reality with the BMW iNEXT model in 2021, heralding a new era of mobility.

“At the BMW Group we always strive for technological leadership. This partnership underscores our Strategy Number ONE > NEXT to shape the individual mobility of the future,” statedHarald Krüger, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. “Following our investment in high definition live map technology at HERE, the combined expertise of Intel, Mobileye and the BMW Group will deliver the next core building block to bring fully automated driving technology to the street. We have already showcased such groundbreaking solutions in our VISION NEXT 100 vehicle concepts. With this technological leap forward, we are offering our customers a whole new level of sheer driving pleasure whilst pioneering new concepts for premium mobility.”

The BMW Group has revealed initial details of its new strategy. With its Strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT, the world’s leading provider of premium products and services for individual mobility is setting out the framework to shape change in the automobile sector. The BMW Group intends to remain the driving force behind premium individual mobility. With a clear focus on people and their environment, the BMW Group aims to deliver solutions that are both ground-breaking and responsible.

“Throughout its 100-year history, the BMW Group has always reinvented itself. As a pioneer of new technologies, the company has shaped change, within both the industry and the world of mobility,” commented Harald Krüger, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, at the Annual Accounts Press Conference in Munich on Wednesday. “We are setting the standard with our Strategy NUMBER ONE > NEXT, both now and in the future. We will lead the BMW Group into a new era, one in which we will transform and shape both individual mobility and the entire sector in a permanent way.”

The BMW Group sees the changes sweeping across the world of mobility through digitalisation as an excellent opportunity to make mobile life simpler, safer and more convenient, thereby inspiring completely new customer groups. In the coming years, the Group will focus on broadening its technological expertise, expanding the scope of digital connectivity between people, vehicles and services and actively strengthening sustainable mobility.

The technological focus will therefore be on consistently achieving further advances in the fields of electric mobility and automated driving. The BMW Group has proved its credentials as a pioneer and visionary driver of innovation with the BMW i brand, of which more than 50,000 vehicles have already been sold, as well as with the latest version of its connected and intelligent flagship BMW 7 Series.

BMW iNEXT as symbol of technology leadership

The BMW Group’s strategy will become driving reality, ushering in the next decade in the form of a revolutionary new BMW i model that will raise premium individual mobility to previously unknown levels. Under the banner of BMW iNEXT, the BMW Group brings new forms of automated driving and digital connectivity together with a new generation of electric mobility, lightweight construction and trailblazing interior design that will set new standards for the customer’s mobility experience.

“BMW iNEXT heralds the next era of mobility,” stated Krüger. “This symbol of our technology leadership will demonstrate how we will bring the future of mobility into series production.” It also underlines BMW i’s role as a driver of innovation and technological trailblazer for the company. The brand develops trendsetting technologies and services, subsequently transferring them to the BMW model range.

The leading role of BMW i in terms of development is already being reflected in the increased scale of electrification in other models. The current plug-in hybrids are in their third generation and are technological market leaders. With the fourth generation, the electric range will be extended. Development of the fifth generation, which will bring further progress in all areas is already underway.

This technology transfer is the basis for the plug-in hybrid BMW iPerformance models. From 2016 onwards the BMW Group will have seven models in its range, which will be either purely electrically powered, like the BMW i3, or feature a combination of combustion engine and electric motor as plug-in hybrid solutions. Further models are due to follow in the coming years, including a plug-in hybrid MINI. In addition, the award-winning plug-in hybrid sports car BMW i8 will be added to by an open-top BMW i8 roadster. By the end of 2016, the Group’s electric vehicle portfolio will be expanded to include a BMW i3 that features increased battery capacity and additional range.

The BMW Group also continues to develop hydrogen fuel-cell technology; the current test vehicles achieve a range up to 700 kilometres. The company believes that a variety of drivetrain systems will exist alongside each other in the future. This expectation is fully reflected in the BMW Group’s current vehicle architecture, which includes all conventional and alternative drivetrain systems. This guarantees maximum flexibility at all stages of development and production and, thanks to benefits of scale, is also highly cost efficient.

Project i 2.0 to ensure a leading role in automated driving

The fact that the BMW Group has already made so much progress in e-mobility is largely due to project i, through which the BMW Group established itself as a true pioneer of sustainable mobility. Project i enabled the company to build up the necessary expertise in electric mobility early on, whilst at the same time ensuring it could be realised on an industrial scale. With project i 2.0, the BMW Group is now following an equally ambitious path with respect to automated and fully networked driving. By bundling the potential opportunities offered by digitalisation, the BMW Group will cement its position as technological leader in this field, too. A clear focus will be placed on high definition digital maps, sensor technology, cloud technology and artificial intelligence, the decisive areas for success in this segment. With the investment in HERE the BMW Group has already secured the availability of high definition maps.

“Our focus is clear: we are securing the BMW Group’s position as technological market leader,” said Klaus Fröhlich, member of the Board of Management responsible for Development. “With project i 2.0 we will lead the field of autonomous driving. We will turn research projects into new kinds of industrial processes, bringing future technology onto the road.“

Since October 2015, customers can experience the next levels of automated driving innovation and a new quality of premium mobility with the new BMW 7 Series. Equipped with a stereo camera and five radar sensors, the BMW Group’s flagship model stays in lane and maintains a safe distance to the vehicle ahead, even when driving up to 210 km/h on motorways. The BMW 7 Series is even able to drive itself into the garage at the push of a button using Remote Control Parking. With gesture control and its comprehensive connectivity, the BMW flagship is already the benchmark in terms of user interface and connectivity.

To further extend its lead in the field of automated driving, the BMW Group will be transferring these technologies to other models during the coming years. New sensor technology and more powerful software will allow rapid progress to be made in the field of automated driving; the BMW iNEXT will set a new benchmark in this area.
Digitalisation makes mobile life easier for customers

New technologies not only make driving more comfortable, they also forge the link between the mobility of the future and all other areas of life. Connectivity is the prerequisite for realising this vision – and it is precisely in this field that ConnectedDrive has been setting standards for several years now.

“In the future, all aspects of our products – whether design, handling or everyday usage – will be modelled more closely than ever before on the customer’s needs,” stated Fröhlich. “Our technologies will learn to anticipate the needs of our customers. By converting data into intelligence, we will be enhancing the quality of life in a mobile world.”

BMW Connected already acts as a personalised companion for our customers, providing a broad array of information to serve their mobility needs. The system becomes increasingly acquainted with the user’s favourite routes and driving habits, thus enabling it to provide warnings of road closures or congestion ahead and suggest alternative routes.

The BMW Group was also quick to recognise the increasing importance of other digital services, making products such as DriveNow, ParkNow and ChargeNow key factors in the BMW Group’s future success. The BMW Group will announce the next steps in enhancing these various services during the current year, consistently and rapidly expanding its mobility services.

Apart from the services it is developing in its own right, the BMW Group is also investing in a number of promising start-ups and service providers via BMW i Ventures. This entity enables the Group to swiftly identify and respond to worldwide mobility trends, a crucial advantage in view of the faster pace of development cycles in the IT sector compared to the automotive world.